Khawagah
Author's Note: A lot can change in a year. Such as, not being able to write a single thing. At all. I had the very worst case of writer's block. Then life caught up with me. Now I'm back with the sequel that everyone called for. It's another adventure through countries I've never been too! Yay! Which means a heck of a lot of research and gross amount of wrong information. Be gentle on me with that one, please. I'm not actively in the Naruto fandom anymore. I gave up on the manga and quit the anime eons ago, but I still follow some of the authors on here that are still trudging through it. I figured this would be fun to write so why not another go. I'm absolutely in love with the tragic beauty of the Middle East. So we're going there. Okay? Good. And without further ado.
Khawagah: Basically, this is the Egyptian Arabic word for foreigner. It's typically used in a derogatory manner like gaikokujin is used in Japan.
Disclaimer: I do not claim rights to Naruto.
Chapter One
"Naruto. You're the only man I've ever loved, but I can't marry you. The girl you want is not the one you need."
In only six months after being back home, Naruto found himself yet again on a plane heading to a not-so-foreign country. Things had been rough after Sakura rejected his proposal and left him feeling stupid and used, still kneeling on one knee. He couldn't be angry with her though. She had expressed clearly while he was in Southeast Asia that she needed to be able to grow into herself and her career. So he had held onto the ring for nearly half a year; allowed it to sit on his dresser and remind him that his life was quickly becoming a failure.
He was on the verge of losing his bartending job, and Tsunade, on a last-ditch effort to save her adopted son, signed him up for counseling he never showed up for. He considered hocking the ring for some money but couldn't bring himself to sell it once he got there. He was at a literal dead end. Yet, here he was, grabbing blindly at the last chance he knew he had. The ring deserved to be returned to the person who bought it and finding Sasuke was not going to be an easy ordeal.
Looking him up was a nightmare and once Naruto finally did find him, he was surprised to learn that Sasuke had moved on up in life and become something Naruto so jokingly detested when they first met so many months ago. A politician. In fact, he was one of the 82 Councillors for the Liberal Democratic Party. It was amazing he was able to achieve this position in only six short months, and it could only be because of sheer determination and family connections. In fact, it wouldn't surprise Naruto if Sasuke had been working on getting the position way before they even met. Apparently this was a big deal from what Naruto was able to discern. If Sasuke wasn't wealthy before, he was definitely rolling in the dough now, which meant that being able to speak to him would be even more impossible. More so, finding the money to afford transportation, board and food in Japan was the biggest kicker. These days he was counting out change for the value menu at Taco Bell.
He wound up selling off most of his large furniture, excluding his bed and television; everything else he could really do without. Only then was he able to afford the two-thousand dollar roundtrip ticket with a little left over for when he arrived. To say Naruto was nervous about returning to his homeland was the understatement of the century. His dread would be considered understandable since he was coming back to the place that ruined his life.
What if he ran into some of the people from his former life? It was highly unlikely since he was traveling to Osaka, but the slim possibility set his nerves alight. He had prepared a speech in front of his bathroom mirror at home that morning to recite in front of Sasuke, but now it all seemed trite and cliché. It was silly to think Sasuke would drop everything in his busy life just to receive a ring that was a gift in the first place. Six months had passed, but Naruto was sure the man was still just as uptight, if not even more so now.
Thirteen hours later, Naruto found himself stumbling out of the over-crowded airport in the hustle and bustle of Japan during lunch rush hour. His head throbbed from lack of sleep, and combined with the time change over the Pacific, he felt like curling up and napping on whatever small section of pavement was available.
Judging by the slew of suits and briefcases, Naruto concluded he was in the business section part of town, which was really convenient if you thought about it. High-class businessmen and women were more apt to know where the Councillors' offices were than some kid on the street. He flagged down the first man he saw that wasn't speaking directly into a cell phone and asked in what broken Japanese he still retained.
After being pointed in the right direction, Naruto hiked his lucky backpack higher on his shoulders and trudged through the traffic of people around him. Austin had been a boiling factory of car exhaust, smog and the stench of people in mid-August, and Naruto was grateful for the slight reprieve of Japan's marginally cooler climate. Even so, sweat gathered underneath his arms where the shoulder straps of the backpack lay.
So, in short, he was the quite the picture as he stepped into the cool lobby of the high-rise offices where Sasuke worked when he wasn't called away to some meeting or benefactor banquet. The petite receptionist twinged at his disheveled appearance and her look of disgust did not go unnoticed by Naruto. He worried suddenly that he might embarrass Sasuke by showing up to his place of business looking like a common beggar.
When he glanced around the rich lobby, he was alarmed to find a group of people examining him curiously. For the life of him, he couldn't remember Japan being this blatant and hostile. They were all holding black packs at their sides. Someone from the front of the group unzipped their bag quickly and brought up a large camera, zooming in on Naruto before clicking rapidly with their pointer finger. The sound of the camera's shutter going off sent Naruto racing for the elevator.
He heard feet following him and ducked into the nearest one, jamming the close doors button with enough force that his thumb hurt. Once inside, he leaned heavily against the oak paneling. Wow. Things had definitely changed while he was away! He almost felt like a celebrity back home being hounded by the paparazzi. A plaque in the corner of the elevator indicated who was on which floor. Sasuke was on floor 45, office 45H. It was funny that once in Japan finding Sasuke was almost as easy as finding milk in the grocery store. It took him weeks back home in Austin to look him up. While Google was handy, it could also send you on a wild goose chase. Finally, he had managed to get a hold of someone who worked with Sasuke when he came to the United States on business.
The elevator opened up to reveal a large room set up to look like a lobby, much like the one downstairs. Huge, plush couches and coffee tables occupied the space in the center and circling the perimeter were office doors. 45H just so happened to be straight ahead of him, set back in its own special mini-hallway. A few people poked their heads out, but other than that, no one really acknowledged Naruto's presence or asked him if he needed their help.
Naruto stopped just outside the frosted doors of Sasuke's office and took a deep breath. Emotions battled against him; one part of him eagerly anticipated seeing his friend's face again and the other part was teetering on a nervous breakdown. Gently, he rapped his knuckles against the glass. A long moment passed before he heard a gruff voice from within tell him to come in. Steeling himself, Naruto opened the door and slipped in.
Sasuke had his back turned towards his floor-to-ceiling windows, clacking away at the laptop he balanced on his lap. "Yes?"
Naruto cleared his throat. "Umm...uh..." He mentally kicked himself. Okay Naruto, English, speak it. "Long time no see?"
Sasuke paused typing, swiveling in his chair sharply. "Naruto." The man before him stared, before pushing away from his desk. In the blink of an eye, Naruto found himself enveloped in a warm hug. Sasuke's crisp suit rubbed against his cheek and the smell of the man's cologne immediately calmed the nerves he had before. Sasuke pulled away finally, a huge smile set upon his face.
"When did you get here? What are you doing here? How have you been?" He rattled off the questions at lightning speed. Naruto laughed out loud before answering.
"Well, just today actually. I've been decent, and I'm actually here because I have something to give to you."
Sasuke raised his eyebrow playfully. "You're telling me you flew all the way to Japan today to give me something that you just as easily could have mailed? Come, come, sit." He motioned Naruto towards the chair opposite his. Naruto sunk into it, feeling his nerves light up again. He'd have to tell him now.
"Well, you're not the easiest man to find. Even if I could have found an address, it wouldn't be right to mail this. I'd rather give it to you in person."
Sasuke turned serious then, leaning his elbows onto the desk. "Well, what is it?"
Naruto dug in the front pocket of his backpack before pulling out the ring box. He slid it across the desk towards Sasuke.
"She didn't want it," he said simply. Sasuke took the box and opened it, brows furrowing after a moment.
"I'm truly sorry, Naruto. Thank you for returning it to me, although I can't think of what use I would need it for."
"It just seemed right, and I'm sure you probably spent a lot of money on it. Sakura and I… well, I couldn't work through our problems. She was still dead set on her career."
Sasuke removed the ring from its box and held it between his fingers. It gleamed in the sunlight, a testament of its craftsmanship considering how old it was.
"Have you considered giving it to another woman, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, sliding the ring back into the box.
"It's yours-" Before Naruto could finish, a woman burst into the office, alarm on her features.
"Uh… Councilor Uchiha, you may want to postpone that lunch break. The lobby downstairs is crawling with reporters."
The calm, soft-spoken demeanor Sasuke had held since Naruto walked in fell off his face immediately. "You're joking? How in the hell…"
The woman nodded towards Naruto. "You should turn on the news; I'm sure they have it broadcasting on all the stations by now."
Sasuke glanced at Naruto curiously. "Did you talk to anyone on the way here?" He turned on the television that was sitting on the far left wall.
"Just some person on the street. I asked him where your building was."
The first news channel Sasuke came upon was in fact broadcasting news about Sasuke.
"…Councilor Sasuke Uchiha was rumored to have a special guest visiting him today. The guest would be none other than Naruto Uzumaki, the Japanese-born American that was part of the expedition Uchiha went on six months ago. Unfortunately for him, his old friend seems to have a blight in his past. Uzumaki holds a criminal record with crimes such as resisting arrest, assault on a peace officer, possession of a controlled substance, petty theft, and various others. As the youngest Council member, Uchiha has some pretty big shoes to fill and let's hope he doesn't ruin his chances by making friends with the wrong crowd. I'm Melissa Aiko and this is your Channel 28 news center." The announcer left off with pictures of Naruto's mug shot as a teen.
When Naruto finally glanced up at Sasuke, the man had his head in his hands, fingers rubbing fiercely at his temples.
"They keep doing these sorts of things and the more it makes me wish I was still a lowly pizza delivery boy."
"Why are they doing this?" Naruto questioned, feeling suddenly even more unwanted in Japan.
"The media loves making a mess of my life, Naruto. I'm not sure what makes me so interesting to them, but I can't take a piss without them looking over my shoulder. For the past four months, ever since I took this office, they have been hounding me nonstop just waiting for me to fuck up." Sasuke stared at Naruto then. "They have their opportunity now. It's not your fault though, so don't blame yourself."
"I wasn't." Naruto stood, defiance rising up inside him. "What do we do though?" Sasuke turned to stare out over the city. "We take a vacation, I guess. We distance ourselves from the media soon. You understand you're a part of this now, right Naruto?"
Naruto started then. "I just came back to give you the ring. You're still my friend, Sasuke, but I can't be dragged into this."
Sasuke shook his head, soft hair whipping gently around his face. "It's a bit late for that. They'll follow you back home and make your life a living hell. We'll both have to leave, together. And during that time, I'll get Suigetsu to diffuse the situation and hopefully we'll get everything fixed up. Nice and neat like a pretty little package."
His voice was wistful. Sasuke had definitely changed since they had been apart. He was more reserved, less spoiled brat. He understood the gravity of the world and his position in its government. If what he was saying was all true, then Naruto really had no choice but to leave with him. He couldn't have reporters hanging outside Tsunade's kitchen window. She'd beat the snot out of them all, and he'd have to bail her out of jail.
"I didn't bring anything with me. My ticket was roundtrip; that was all I had money for," Naruto explained, finally conceding to Sasuke's wishes.
Sasuke turned to face him. "That's no problem. We'll get you something before we leave." His face seemed to soften now that Naruto had agreed to run with him.
"…where are we leaving to, anyways?"
"Have you ever been to Cyprus, Naruto?"
Author's Note: So, how do you like it so far? I would love to hear your comments. Cyprus is a beautiful, beautiful Mediterranean country just east of Greece. You should google some images of it.
Looking for a beta reader to help out. Qualifications are that you must be comfortable with what I write, which for this story is SasuNaruSasu AU. I'm looking for someone who is strong in grammar and tenses, and less on plot. I have a pretty strong idea of where I would like this story to go. If you feel like you're interested, just PM and we'll work something out. I want someone that will actually help, and not someone who just wants to read the latest update before everyone else.